Map of the
Indian Territory

Indian Territory. By act of Congress,
June 30, 1834, " all that part of the United States west of the
Mississippi River, and not within the States of Missouri and Louisiana,
or the Territory [now the State] of Arkansas, shall be considered the
Indian country." It has been reduced in area by the successive formation
of States and Territories, until now it is bounded north by Kansas, east
by Missouri and Arkansas, south by Texas, and west by Texas and
Oklahoma, and contains an area of 31,000 square miles. The population in
1890 was 180,182; in 1900, 391,960. This aggregate population, however,
is only partially Indian, as many other whites, and
negroes are included therein. In 1900 there were seven reservations in
the Territory, and five civilized nations, the
Cherokees, Chickasaws,
Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles, and over 97 per cent of the entire
population was in the first four nations. It was estimated that the
population of the five nations included 84,750 Indians. The reservation
Indians include Quapaws, Peorias, Kaskaskias, Ottawas, Wyandottes,
Miamis, Shawnees, Modocs, Senecas, Cayugas, Sacs and Foxes,
Pottawattomies, Osages, Kaws, Kiowas, Comanches,
Apaches, Arapahoes,
Cheyennes, Piankeshaws, and Weas, and the affiliated bands of Wichitas,
Keechies, Wacoes, Tawacanies, Caddoes, Ioneis, Delawares, and Penetethka
Comanches. In the latter part of 1873 the Modocs (a remnant of Captain
Jack's band) and about 400 Kickapoos and Pottawattomies, from the
borders of Texas and Mexico, were removed to the Indian Territory. The Teritory is well watered and wooded, and has much fertile land suitable
for raising cereals and cotton, while the climate is mild and
salubrious, but dry. Previous to the Civil War the five civilized tribes
were well-to-do, even wealthy, possessing large farms and many slaves,
and having an extensive trade with the Southern cities. Many of them
enlisted—same with the Nationals, some with the Confederates—and at the
close of the war the tribes were reduced to poverty. Since then,
however, they have made remarkable progress, and have regained much of
their former wealth. In 1891 the Indian population cultivated over
400,000 acres of land, and raised fully 4,500,000 bushels of wheat,
corn, and oats, 400,000 bushels of vegetables, 60,000 bales of cotton,
and 175,000 tons of hay, amounting in value to nearly $6,000,000. A
portion of the Territory is fine grass - land, well fitted for grazing,
and the several tribes owned 800,000 head of live-stock. Besides these
there were produced large quantities of maple sugar, wild rice,
cord-wood, hem-lock bark, and wool. More than 8,000,000 feet of lumber
was sawed, and many thousands of woolen blankets, shawls, willow
baskets, and other small articles of manufacture were produced. The
Territory also produces iron, coal, marble, sandstone, and brick-clay.
Wild turkeys and other varieties of small game are abundant. In certain
instances, where white men are concerned, the jurisdiction of the United
States courts extends over the Territory. The subject of a territorial
government for the Indian country has long been discussed, but no
decision has yet been reached. It was the policy of the United States to
settle the various tribes in this region upon separate reservations, as
far as possible, where they might be free from the encroachment of the
white people, and under the general superintendence and protection of
the government; but nearly 3,000 " pale-faces " had intruded and seated
themselves in the Territory, when, in 1889, a portion of it was made a
Territory of the United States by purchase from the Indians, under the
name of Oklahoma.

In 1893 Congress created the commission
to the five civilized tribes, with instructions to enter into
negotiations with the several nations for the allotment of land in
severalty or to procure the cession to the United States of the lands
belonging to the five tribes at such price and terms as might be agreed
upon, it being the express determination of Congress to bring about such
changes as would enable the ultimate creation of a Territory, with the
view to the admission of the same as a State of the Union. The work of
the commission was still in progress in 1901, a principal difficulty
being the taking of a census that would show the number of people in the
several nations that would be entitled to consideration in the execution
of the intentions of Congress. An encouraging advance had been made in
carrying out the other duties of the commission.

Each of the five nations constitutes a
separate organism, independent of any central authority; having its own
executive and legislative officers ; and being sovereign excepting as to
an observance of certain provisions of Congress. Each nation, in a word,
practically stands towards the other nations and to the national
government in the same relation as any one of the States. Hence, the
labor of gathering information concerning the material, financial,
educational, social, and other interests of the Indian Territory, and of
carrying out the duties imposed on the commission, may be likened to the
application of the same effort to any five adjoining States, although
the actual area of investigation is here more restricted.

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